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1.1: Trial by Tutorial
The first session of The Empress' New Fleet. Played in June 2015. The Party * Icaea Hoia, Human Factotum * Agernásson IV, High Elf Ranger * Trettos, Human Warlock * Gorn Le'Lyana, Human Ardent Journal The Ufurcan Empire, port city of Salmo. Dire Mussel Tavern. The infamous, gloomy drinking hole smells quite suspicious and is filled with very varied folk. Apart from customers of various races, the half-orc woman guarding the door and the dwarven bartender stand out. Icaea, who has been working at the local Temple of Wavestrider, is looking for a sailor who has supposedly discovered something about his home islands' location. Unfortunately, the bartender is unable to help. Gorn and Agernásson (completely unaffiliated) are just drinking and recovering from their travels, while Trettos asks the bartender for work. Gorn inches up to listen in. Trettos: ”Has there been anything weird happening lately?” Bartender: ”Aye, as always... Maybe a few more lurkers by tha docks, but can't think of nothing else.” Trettos: ”Oh yeah? Happen to have any work available?” Glancing around suspiciously, the bartender hands Trettos a small piece of paper and retreats into the kitchen. The note, which Gorn reads as well, says only: ”Backroom, upstairs.” In a split second someone bumps lightly into both Agernásson and Icaea and slips them similar notes. Agernásson sees a glimpse of a brown-haired man before he pulls up his hood and disappears into the crowd. All four shrug and decide to follow the instructions, out of curiosity if nothing else, and share a few confused looks while clambering up the stairs. At the end of the second-floor balcony there is a lonely door, on which Gorn dubiously knocks. A voice calls them in: inside is a very simple room with a window to the street, a wooden table and a single chair. On that chair is a man clad in red-and-silver armor, recognizable as a high-ranking guard uniform. The man himself, on the other hand, is notable for his withdrawing dark hairline, clean-shaven face and fiercely tired leer. He silently pours whiskey into four glasses and offers them to the freshly-founded party. Gorn and Trettos accept, but Agernásson has a pint of weird-tasting beer from the bar and Icaea declines politely. The man shrugs and starts sipping his own drink. Man: ”You're probably wondering why you're here.” Awkward silence. Man: ”I'm not quite sure either, but my recruiters thought you were a good choice. Our standards might be a little low these days.” Trettos: ”Excuse me, but who exactly are you?” Man: ”I am the Vice-Commander of the Salmo City Guard, looking for assistance in an important task. It is very significant for the security of the city, if not the nation, and would surely be very profitable for you as well.” No one has any particular devotion to Ufurca, but money is always nice. Icaea: ”And what's this task then?” VC: ”Unfortunately I cannot tell you quite yet. I must first confirm your abilities and your loyalty. Thus I have another, less important job for you first.” Agernásson: ”Oh great, a side quest already?” Gorn: ”More like a tutorial.” VC: ”A group of pirate vessels got too close to the city, so they were obviously sunk. However, one was reported to have escaped, and probably hidden in a certain cove about ten miles from here. I can't send my guards on such a mission, and though the army may be an option... I might as well send you.” Agernásson: ”So what exactly are we supposed to do? Confirm their location?” VC: ”What must be done to pirates. Bring the ship's flag as proof. Just follow the coast to the west, and you'll definitely find them.” The Vice-Commander disappears into the night and the baffled party is left alone. They introduce themselves to each other, though not in too much detail, and decide to stay at the Manticore Inn next door: the Dire Mussel no longer offers boarding after being destroyed one too many times. In the morning, after brief negotiations the party decides to walk for a couple hours rather than get a possibly expensive boat or horses. Following a quiet country road, they finally see smoke rising from between the trees and creep closer: the badly damaged ship, surrounded by almost a dozen pirates, has been steered into a small cove surrounded by rocky cliffs. Some of the bandits have gathered around a fire, while a few are further apart or on the deck of the ship; one is floating face down in a patch of bloody water. None seem to have noticed the party. They plot their tactics for a moment and get into position. A man separated from the others is entangled by Trettos' eldritch blast and separated from his lower body by Gorn's greatsword. The rest of the party jumps the ones hanging around the fire, but despite the element of surprise the fight drags on. Nimble as Icaea and Agernásson may be, both sides take and receive blows in almost equal measure. Especially a ferocious orc wielding an enchanted falchion proves a tough nut to crack. The fight also attracts attention onboard the ship, where two archers are preparing to fire. A gnome hangs back, notices Trettos hiding behind a rock and surprises everyone with an eldritch blast of his own, but barely misses. With a leap boosted by a short dimension hop, Gorn suddenly appears on deck and cleaves an archer in twain in one swift movement. The other escapes across the railing, where the victorious party captures him and Icaea ties him up. The gnome warlock exhales a thick cloud of smoke and hides inside it. The party approaches the smoke with care. Agernásson decides to step inside and swing his chain around, but doesn't hit anything but the mast. Perhaps a little foolhardily he starts climbing it. Suddenly someone leaps from the mast and slashes him on the way down, leaving two deep cuts on his back. The gnome also appears from inside the cloud, jumps on top of a beam and fires at the party, but is quickly shot down by Gorn and Trettos. The unseen attacker, however, is effortlessly evading Agernásson's half-blind attacks; Icaea thinks he has a perfect strike lined up, right in the back of the head, only to have his spear swatted aside right before impact. At least this seems to convince the foe to retreat: leaping into the air, pushing off the mast and twirling over the party's heads. Only a splash is heard and the fight is over as quickly as it began. All the party could see in that split moment outside the smoke was a slender figure in dark armor, wielding a bloodied kukri in each hand. They can see no movement in the water. They retrieve the bright white flag from the mast and search the almost empty ship, where they find a lot of mostly or completely ruined cargo, a nice chest of silver, an empty Bag of Holding and a boxful of small bottles of alchemist's fire. After liberal application of Icaea's healing wand and with the surprisingly cooperative prisoner in tow, they decide to pile the bodies onto the ship and light it on fire. An undiscovered stash of alchemist's fire explodes moments later, providing a nice backdrop as they head towards Salmo. Category:Lorelm Category:Kampanjat Category:Content Category:English